Chapter 3

The blood in my veins turned to ice.

A test? What did that mean?

The footsteps walked away, but I stayed awake until dawn.

The next morning, Mom was bustling in the kitchen again.

"Vivian, I made your favorite warm oatmeal."

She scooped a spoonful, blew on it, and held it to my lips.

"Come on, eat it while it's hot."

I stared at her, unmoving.

Her eyes rimmed with red. "I know something has been bothering you lately, but you can't just skip meals. How can your body handle that?"

I took the bowl. "I'll feed myself."

I scooped some up, pretended to take a bite, and flicked my wrist. The hot oatmeal splashed all over my shirt.

"Oh!"

Mom shrieked and jumped up.

A split-second flash of disappointment crossed her eyes.

It wasn't concern. It was... the bitter frustration of a ruined plan.

She instantly switched back to the doting mother. "Did you burn yourself? Oh, you clumsy child, be careful!"

She rushed over, frantic to wipe my shirt, but her fingernails dug painfully into my arm.

Half an hour later, a violent cramp tore through my stomach.

I bolted to the bathroom and threw up violently.

Mom stood by the doorway, her voice completely calm—almost expecting this.

"See? That's what happens when you skip meals. Your stomach can't take it."

My vision blurred as cold sweat soaked my clothes.

Hearing the commotion, Dad walked out.

"What's going on?"

Mom launched into her routine immediately, pointing at me with heartbreak written all over her face.

"Your daughter is being picky! Refusing to eat this, refusing to eat that! Complaining that my cooking is disgusting! Now she's made herself sick!"

A second later, she stroked my hair with sickening gentleness.

"Forget it, I shouldn't hold it against a child."

"Hurry, Mark, get the car! We need to take her to the emergency room!"

In the ER, the doctor took one look at my vitals and frowned.

"Food poisoning. Prep her for a stomach pump."

The nurse brought over a consent form. "She needs to be on strict NPO—no food or water before the procedure."

I nodded weakly.

Mom suddenly grabbed the nurse's arm. "No! She hasn't eaten anything! How can she survive on an empty stomach?!"

"Ma'am, this is hospital policy..."

"To hell with policy! My daughter is collapsing!" She spun around, holding a cup of porridge she had somehow gotten from outside. "Vivian, listen to Mom. Just one sip. Just one!"

She shoved the spoon forcefully against my lips.

I clamped my mouth shut and turned my head away.

"Mom... the doctor said... I can't eat..."

"What do doctors know?! I'm doing this for your own good!" Her voice cracked into tears. "Do you want to starve to death?!"

She forcefully grabbed my shoulders.

I clamped my jaw shut. The hot porridge smeared across my cheek, burning my skin.

"The patient cannot consume anything!" The nurse tried to pull her back.

Mom shoved her away violently. "She's my daughter! I make the decisions!"

Chaos erupted in the room.

The attending doctor rushed over, his face grim.

"What is going on here?!"

Mom let go of me instantly.

She stumbled back, tears instantly flooding her cheeks as she pointed at me and wailed to the doctor:

"Doctor, please talk some sense into her! She was crying that she was starving and begged me for food! I... I didn't know what else to do..."

Lying in the hospital bed, watching her grand performance, my whole body turned numb.

The doctor frowned. "She explicitly refused food just now."

Mom's crying cut off abruptly.

Her eyes widened in disbelief, looking from the doctor to me as if she had suffered the ultimate betrayal.

"Vivian... how could you lie like that? You were the one begging me to buy you food!"

She turned to the other patients in the room, seeking validation.

"This girl is so stubborn... even when she's sick, she has to torment everyone around her..."

The doctor didn't have time for her melodrama. He wheeled my bed straight into the procedure room and turned on the pump.

As the tube was shoved down my throat, I locked eyes with Mom through the glass door.

She stood under the hallway lights. The corner of her mouth... subtly curved upward.